Loading promotion info...
The Forgotten Daughter’s Ivy League Comeback
Novelix
new
Completed
After her sister Ione is kidnapped at five, the Halloway family revolves around Ione's PTSD. Wren must file written requests for any time with their parents—birthdays, Parent's Day, even a hospital bed. On her eighteenth birthday, injured in a car accident, she begs someone to sign her surgical consent form. Her parents won't risk upsetting Ione; she is told she's old enough to sign herself. That pen stroke ends her asking. Wren joins a fully funded honors training camp, fights her way to a near-perfect score and an Ivy League scholarship, and builds a life that belongs to no one but herself.
Chapters (3)
第1章
When my sister, Ione, was five, she was kidnapped. After she was rescued, she developed severe separation anxiety and PTSD-related panic attacks.
Whenever she couldn't see Mom or Dad, her heart raced and she struggled to breathe. In severe cases, she would even faint.
From then on, our family had one more rule:
If I wanted to spend time alone with Mom and Dad, I had to submit a written request first. I could only have their time after Ione approved it.
Mom and Dad would always stroke my hair with guilty expressions.
"Wren, we're only doing this so Ione can survive."
"You're the sensible one. Don't hold it against her."
So when I couldn't sleep all night, Ione said she was scared, and Mom didn't come to stay with me.
During Parent's Day, Ione complained that her chest hurt, and Dad's seat stayed empty the entire afternoon.
Later, I was hospitalized with a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ione only had to say, "They're not allowed to leave," and Mom and Dad immediately began coaxing me over the phone.
"Be a good girl, Wren. The nurses can take care of you."
On my eighteenth birthday, I got into a car accident.
The doctor said I needed emergency surgery and a guardian's signature.
I was shaking from the pain. For the first time, I cried as I begged my sister.
"Just give me half an hour."
"Let Mom come sign the papers. I'll give her back to you as soon as the surgery is over."
Ione instantly broke down and smashed a glass.
"Why are you always trying to take Mom and Dad away from me?"
"Would you be happy if I died?"
On the other end of the phone, Mom was busy calming her down. After a long silence, Dad finally spoke.
"Wren, it's only a signature."
"You're eighteen now. You can sign for yourself."
The pain suddenly disappeared.
Or maybe I had been hurting for so long that I could no longer feel it.
I took the pen and slowly wrote my name.
So this was what turning eighteen really meant.
It wasn't growing up.
It was finally being old enough to save myself when Mom and Dad weren't there.
…
After my surgery, Mom posted on Instagram. The picture showed Ione's medical report beside a table filled with delicious food.
The caption read: [Celebrating my daughter's successful treatment.]
I stared at my phone, stunned.
Three years earlier, Ione's condition had worsened, and Mom and Dad could only stay by her side.
Whenever she saw me at the table, she would flip everything over.
She wouldn't calm down until I stumbled out of the room, covered in food.
Eventually, I stopped eating with them altogether.
The woman in the bed beside mine noticed my reddened eyes and handed me a tissue.
"Sweetheart, don't be sad. Things will get better."
My eyes immediately began to sting.
My stomach growled because I hadn't eaten all day. She quickly handed me a bowl of hot soup she had just bought.
"Have some first."
After a pause, she asked, "Where are your parents?"
I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a spoonful of soup. The cold in my stomach slowly melted away.
"They're busy," I mumbled.
She tactfully didn't ask anything else, but there was a trace of pity in her eyes when she looked at me.
That evening, Mom called.
Her voice carried a hint of reproach.
"Don't you have spending money? Why did your surgery cost so much?"
"Do you know how long your father and I had to calm Ione down after she saw the credit card bill?"
"When are you going to stop making things so difficult for us?"
I gave a bitter smile.
I had just undergone surgery, yet Mom and Dad still had to worry about soothing Ione.
Now even the money spent on my operation had to pass her judgment.
My nose stung.
"Mom, am I still your daughter?"
There was a brief silence on the other end.
"Next time you need money, submit a request to your sister first. Don't put us in a difficult position."
Then she hung up.
My throat tightened, and tears slipped down my face.
During the first two years after Ione's condition worsened, she always found some excuse whenever I asked Mom and Dad to spend time with me.
Eventually, I stopped submitting requests.
I knew Ione would never approve them anyway.
When I came back to myself, I heard her fragile voice through the phone.
"Mom and Dad, you should go check on my sister. What if she really…"
"The doctor said my condition has improved. I can stay home by myself."
Mom and Dad hesitated. They were just about to put on their shoes when I heard a loud thud on the other end, followed by a burst of frantic footsteps.
Mom hung up with a sharp click.
I didn't need to guess.
Ione had fainted again.
I laughed bitterly. No matter what happened, she was always their first choice.
To my surprise, Mom and Dad still came that night.
They saw me lying in bed with my leg suspended, and their eyes turned red.
"Does it hurt?"
Mom checked the time.
"We came while your sister was asleep. We're sorry, Wren. We shouldn't have left you alone."
The woman in the next bed couldn't help asking, "Honey, are they your relatives?"
Mom froze for a moment before forcing an awkward smile.
"I'm her mother."
"What kind of mother doesn't even know her own daughter is in the hospital?"
Mom pretended not to hear. After helping me wash up, she even said she would stay with me.
Before I had time to feel happy, Ione called.
第2章
Mom stood up without hesitation.
I instinctively grabbed her sleeve.
"Mom, I'm scared. Can you stay with me?"
Her voice was full of reproach.
"Wren, don't make a fuss. We came here without telling your sister. Don't upset her."
Before she left, she still remembered to refill my water cup.
The warmth beneath my fingers disappeared.
I had prepared myself for disappointment long ago, but when it finally happened, my heart still ached.
The next morning, Mom brought me breakfast.
She placed a shrimp omelet on my plate.
"Try it. I specifically asked your sister for half an hour to visit you last night, and I got up early to make this."
I stared at the omelet and the bagel with a bite already taken out of it. I didn't touch either one.
Mom frowned.
"Don't be picky."
Ione liked shrimp, but I was severely allergic to shellfish.
Once, I accidentally ate a shrimp from Ione's bowl and had to be rushed to the emergency room.
After that, Mom strictly forbade me from eating seafood.
She had even stuck a note on the refrigerator that read: Wren is allergic to seafood.
But now, she had forgotten.
"Mom, I'm allergic to seafood."
"And the bagel? Do you really think I only deserve whatever my sister leaves behind?"
Mom froze. Guilt immediately surfaced in her eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to forget."
After a pause, she asked carefully, "What would you like to eat? I'll make it for you tomorrow."
Before I could answer, Ione appeared at the hospital-room door.
Her face was pale. When she saw Mom, she pointed at her watch.
Thirty minutes and one second.
She had been waiting outside the entire time.
Mom knew Ione's temper and hurried to apologize.
Ione walked around her, came to my bedside, and threw a stack of bills in front of me.
"Wren, you've eaten and lived in our house for free for three years. Now you expect my parents to pay your medical expenses too?"
Not only had she waited outside for thirty minutes, she had also printed out every cent my surgery had cost during that time.
She smoothly pulled out a promissory note and made me sign it.
Every dollar I had spent over the past three years had been listed in painstaking detail.
She had gone to a lot of trouble.
Mom wanted to stop her, but she was afraid Ione would have another episode.
I hesitated for only a second before she began screaming and dragged me out of bed.
My head struck the corner of the cabinet. I hissed in pain.
The woman in the next bed couldn't stand by and watch.
"How can you hit someone like that? If there's a problem, talk it out."
Mom and Dad were about to help me up, but when Ione heard someone defending me, she became even more agitated.
"What do you know? Sisters should keep their accounts clear. Besides, she isn't even really part of our family."
The moment she finished speaking, she fainted again.
Mom and Dad hurriedly gathered her into their arms and left without even looking at me.
With the nurse's help, I climbed back into bed. The doctor said my wound had reopened and needed to be stitched again.
When the needle pierced my flesh, I was in so much pain that I almost cried.
But once it was over, that pain was nothing compared to what I felt inside.
第3章
Half a month later, I was discharged and went home.
The moment I reached the front door, I saw my belongings scattered across the porch. Some had been left there so long that mold had already grown over them.
I was about to knock when Ione opened the door.
She wore a silk robe and sheepskin slippers. When she saw me, she waved a hand in front of her face in disgust.
"Wren, your things are all out there. Hurry up and clean them up. The Halloway family can't afford to support a poor relative who does nothing but eat and drink."
When I didn't move, she shoved me.
I was leaning on my crutches and didn't react in time. I fell hard onto the ground.
A sharp pain shot through my ankle, and the wound that had just been bandaged split open again.
"How many times do I have to tell you? This house belongs to me now. You'll never set foot inside again."
"Who are you trying to fool with that pathetic look? If it weren't for Mom and Dad, I would've thrown all your things in the trash already."
"And don't call me your sister at school anymore. I don't have a beggar for a sister."
With that, she slammed the door.
I lowered my head and looked at my clothes. The knees had been stitched up by Mom.
They had looked presentable before, but after I fell, they were covered in mud and debris.
I raised my head and saw my reflection in the glass door.
Didn't I look exactly like a beggar?
I gritted my teeth against the pain, picked up my crutches, and limped as I gathered my belongings.
Halfway through, I found a yellowed notebook. The cover was still intact, but the writing inside had blurred from the rain.
Even so, I pieced together what I could.
It had been my first birthday present from Mom and Dad.
I still remembered how they had put work aside to take me to an amusement park.
Ione had even used her allowance to buy me candy.
When we passed a toy store, I had begged them to buy me a music box.
They had written a blessing on it:
I hope Wren is happy every day.
Now, the music box lay alone on the ground, its pieces scattered everywhere.
I picked it up and tried to put it back together.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make it work again.
I only broke it into even smaller pieces.
I wanted to cry, but I had already run out of tears.
Mom came back and frowned when she saw me sitting on the ground.
"What's the point of cleaning up this junk?"
She expertly pulled two crumpled twenty-dollar bills from her purse and secretly pressed them into my hand.
"Finish packing and go to school first. If your sister sees you, she'll get upset again."
Sure enough, Ione saw Mom talking to me and threw a glass in my direction.
It grazed my cheek, leaving a deep red mark.
I silently picked up the clothes from the ground.
Most of them had belonged to Ione before she got tired of them. They had become my new clothes.
After thinking for a moment, I threw them into the trash.
The music box went in with them.
Then I turned around and left the home where I had lived for eighteen years.
When I returned to the dorm, I received a photo from Ione.
It showed the three of them together.
Ione wore a birthday hat, with a custom-made cream cake from Mom and Dad in front of her.
The message read:
【Mom and Dad are mine. You'll never take them away from me.】
I gripped my phone and suddenly remembered.
Today was Ione's birthday.
I blocked her and opened a message from my college counselor.
She said there was a nationwide honors scholars training program. It offered full funding and covered all tuition, with a focus on Ivy League schools.
Based on my grades, she thought I should give it a try.
I had just typed the words "I agree" when two unexpected people appeared at the door.